A Nameless among them
by Shira Aithne
Summary: The backstory of my character Shira. Rated M for future violence, possible nudity/adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

When a child sees something out of the normal no one expects it to turn into anything serious. They all think the child lies, or is merely pretending. But what would happen if, say the child began predicting the downfall of their home village? What if the predictions came true? Well surely the child has been possessed by some demon and must be either banished, or purified by fire.

Shiras mother never thought much of her daughters waking nightmares, until they started making themselves present in her daily activities. Her once light child had become sullen and withdrawn; she no longer played with the other village children and spent most of her time wandering the outskirts of town. Sometimes vanishing for days and waltzing back into the house like nothing had happened. One day the young mother took her daughter of seven to the village elder. The young girl told him everything and the mother expressed her worries, her pleas were met with laughter and advice to punish the child when she misbehaved. If being a single parent wasn't enough, now she had the whole village watching her every move.

Before leaving the elders house, the girl made an offhanded comment to watch out for the elder's wife. Soon after she fell ill and as her health waned the young girl was put on trial. Of course she had done nothing wrong and the council could not charge her with anything. But as more and more sickness started spreading the young girl had to stay indoors, she was not allowed near other people of the village.

Her once deeply tanned skin turned white as the snow and the winter when she was only ten she and her mother were taken from their beds in the night and cast out into the village square. There was a large pyre built, the villagers had come to rid their home of the cursed child. She was a demon in disguise and it was her whorish mother who had brought the plague upon them.

As they lit the pyre more and more villagers filled the square, Shira was bound and drenched in a flammable liquid. But as the flames licked her face a single voice called out to save her soul. Before Shira could react she was untied and her mother was thrown onto the flame in her place. The smell of burning flesh filled her nostrils and screams of pain filled her ears. She was unable to speak or cry out as she watched her mother burn before her eyes.

"See as the power drains from the demon!" one council member cried to the villagers. Shira was then wrapped in a sheet, obscuring her vision. When she was released one villager stayed behind with the broken child at her now eerily empty house, "I know you are not cursed, you were a blessing to this village. No one listened. Nothing is your fault child. We did not deserve you. Do not stay here Shira. They will find another reason to get rid of you." The kind woman said and left the child to herself.

Although Shira did not understand at the time she felt compelled to listen to at least part of the woman's words.

"I will escape…" she said to herself. Once in the house she began placing candles everywhere where no one except she would know how the fire started. If they wanted a demon they would get one… She stripped off her clothes and rung her hair onto a towel and other pieces of her mothers clothing, she showered only long enough to get the smell of burning out of her skin and to make sure the village dogs could not follow her. She packed her mothers hunting knives and a few of her own, and then she dug into her mother's rainy day munny.

"This should tide me over for a bit…" she said silently and prayed for her mother's soul.

After gathering very few necessities and packing them into her messenger bag she began to purge the village of her very existence. She stood outside in the cold winter morning air as she set fire to her house, the flames seemed to take on her every wish, they jumped and set flames to the neighboring houses, it was that moment she bonded with the flame. It became a part of her, carving a little niche in her soul for it to reside.

The flame was her friend, her one and only. She would never betray it and it would always stay. Shira was almost to the docks when she heard the dogs looking for her, she snuck upon the first ship she had the chance to and hid among the kitchen equipment being loaded. The smell of vegetables and various other foods wafted around on the deck before being moved to the lower portion of the ship. She could hear the dogs and their owners nearing the ship, they stopped and she could hear them talking to someone. She ducked into the first cabin and hid under a map covered desk, it was warm and she had only closed her eyes for what felt like a moment when she was roughly pulled out onto the floor.

"Well, you must be the little one they were looking for." Boomed a large man, "Still, you don't look like you'd be much trouble" he laughed "The name's Brand." He stuck his hand forward to the girl who was still lying on her back and looking at the man, eyes full of fear. Still, the more polite side of her urged her hand to meet his and shake. He then lifted her to her feet by that hand and patted her back. Shira wobbled and pitched forward from the rough pat on the back, "You… aren't going to throw me off the ship are you?" she asked; her voice cracking.

The seasoned man laughed again, taking his seat at the desk Shira had been hiding under. "Well, if they had found you I would have had to. I doubt they would have believed you being my niece… let alone my daughter. You're too pale to have lived as a captain's spawn." He stroked his square jaw line and eyed the girl for a while before ruffling his sandy brown hair and sighing. "I guess you're stuck with me, we're too far out to turn around and dock. Also, I won't be responsible for a young girl drowning." He slammed his fist on the table, visually startling Shira. He saw this and laughed again, clearing any seriousness in the air.

He eyed the girl again,

"How old are ya child?" she stiffened, "Almost eleven, sir." She said and looked at the ground. The booming laughter filled the cabin,

"But you're just a pup!" he slammed his fists on the desk again, after a minute or so the laughter died down and he stood. Taking two strides he knelt in front of the stiff girl and put his hands on her shoulders,

"Can ya cook girly?" her eyes met his and a sort of twinkle glinted across the surface. "Yes sir." She said,

"Well," the captain said

"I've yet to find a cook for this here heap. How would you like to take charge of my galley?" she smiled, although to anyone else it was very small. But to her you could have seen it from space.

The captain cleared his throat,

"Well, now that that's taken care of… Where's your mom hiding?" he began walking around his cabin and checking anywhere an adult could have been. He heard a small thud and short sobs; he quickly turned and saw Shira on her knees, eyes buried in her hands. He walked back over and held the girl close to his chest,

"I see… Well, I bet you're just as pretty as she. It's ok, maybe on our travels you'll find a man worth all this pain. You've got to pass this pretty little face down to a new generation." Shira looked up at the strange man; she could tell he was trying to make her feel better.

"You… haven't… spent… a lot of time around… women… have you sir?" she sniffled; he laughed again in her ear and let her stand on her own. "First thing's first, we need to introduce you to the crew." Captain Brand said, Shira nodded and wiped her tears on the sleeve of her shirt.

She had time to cry later, she would never show anyone her weak side, ever again. Brand took her out onto the deck and her now fellow pirates all stood at attention.

"Everyone! We have found ourselves…" the captain paused for dramatic effect,

"Our new cook! No longer will we starve!" He yelled and all the pirates cheered, Shira smirked. Pirates were supposed to be angry and always only interested in treasure… not cheering at the fact they would all be fed.

The captain took her to a door a few feet from his cabin and led her down into the lower deck, there were tables and chairs laying about, covered in dust. There was another stairwell and she silently wondered how far the ship went down. "This is your new home, there's a room behind the kitchen for you to sleep in." he said, she nodded with determination flaring in her eyes.

"My son is only a couple years older than you; I'll assign him to her your personal assistant." He chuckled and patted her on the back, then made his way back to the top deck.

She didn't understand why he had chuckled at the mention of his son, but she rolled up her sleeves and began cleaning. It was a way of relieving stress that her mother had taught her, although she didn't linger on the thought of her mother long as the smell of burning flesh would make itself present and the screams would fill her ears again. A few times while she cleaned she would find herself unable to breathe, she would collapse and tears would stream down her face.

Unbeknownst to Shira, someone had been watching her the entire time. The captain's son, twelve years of age; Gage. He stared in disbelief at the strange girl his father had somehow commandeered, she was gangly; all elbows and knees. He watched as her tears fell into the bucket of water she used to clean the various tables and when she began to clean the floor something tugged at his underdeveloped heart. He grabbed one of the cleaner rags from a nail on the wall and walked over to the girl, she looked up at him after quickly wiping her face on her now dirty shirt. He glared down at her, but she did not cower away from him as other girls had in the past, she raised an eyebrow and glared back. He was dark, as she once had been when she used to play in the sun, he had a head full of curly, dark brown hair and the lightest blue eyes anyone ever did see; he had young muscles and looked as if he could throw her across the room.

"You look funny…" Gage said as he got down on one knee and dipped his rag into the dirty water, as he rung out the rag he sighed and looked at the girl again,

"You're doing it wrong, stupid girl. When the water gets like this you're supposed to get new stuff." He sighed and grabbed her ran from her then plopped both of them down in the water, standing up he took the bucket handle in one hand and grabbed Shira's arm with the other forcing her to her feet. He led the girl up the steps, past the pirate's stares and whispers; he took her to one side of the ship and slopped the rags on the frozen deck. He then tied the bucket to a rope and lowered it into the icy water. When he raised it the water was no longer murky, it was fresh and clear. It was only about six or so in the morning but Shira looked out over the ocean and saw the sun rising up over the water. The air bit at her wet skin and turned her cheeks and nose pink. The young pirate boy sighed and led her back down to the eating deck, when they started scrubbing the floor again the boy spoke

"The name's Gage. And when my father gives this ship to me there's going to be a no girls rule. That means you'll have to find somewhere else to live soon." He said and looked up from his spot on the floor, the girls face never left the floor but he could see drops falling from her eyes, almost immediately feeling guilty he went back to his cleaning. Pretending he hadn't seen anything, the girl cleared her throat,

"But, if you kick me off… who's going to cook your food? I think you'd rather have a girl on board than starve…" she said and although no one could see it she smiled.

Gage humphed, and scrubbed harder at the floor "I don't think your cooking will be any good. My dad said you were two years younger than me… That makes me the better cook. Cause I'm older." He boasted, she giggled "Do you know how to peel potatoes?" she asked and looked at the boy, sitting back on her legs. Gage's face turned a bright shade of pink, "No." he stated, "Then that makes me the better cook… Maybe I'll teach you…" she started then Gage threw his cold, wet rag in her face, "Shut up. You're such a stupid girl. You can clean by yourself!" he shouted then left, she could hear his footsteps clomp up the stairs.

But she didn't hear the door open or close, Gage sat on the stairs listening to hear if he had upset her. Shira merely finished scrubbing and mopping the floor all by herself and listened to see if the boy would come back. She knew he was listening but paid no more attention to him; she cleaned the kitchen by herself and moved everything around to see what she had stock of. She began cutting onions and separating them into rings while she boiled three pots of water over a fire she had started with her newly found power.

She let the anger of that morning fuel her, she didn't eat that entire day and in the evening when the captain came down to check on her he found his son sleeping slumped against the wall on the stairs. He left his demon sleeping and followed the most heavenly smell of food into the kitchen where he found Shira atop a pot peering into several more pots of bubbling soup. She turned around and out of surprise nearly fell backwards into the fire but the captain caught her by the shirt and lifted her off the pot.

"Looks like someone's been busy!" he laughed then dipped his finger into the nearest pot for a quick taste,

"Well I'll be damned! You are good!" he laughed again and heard someone stumble down the stairs, it was his second in command "Chuck! Come taste this!" he boomed, another man entered the room with Gage being dragged half asleep behind him,

"Found this on the stairs cap… I think it belongs to you." He chuckled then slid past the little girl for a taste,

"Lord Almighty, that's good. Where'd you find this one?" he asked, the captain had since been talking to his son,

"To correct your assumption earlier, he doesn't belong to me anymore." He gestured towards Shira, "She owns his ass now. And she just dropped out of the sky, like a little angel sent from god himself to keep us from starving!" Both of the men laughed and Brand led his friend out of the kitchen,

"We'll start sending the boys down in a minute, you two get ready!" he laughed again and led his man upstairs.

Shira and Gage stood awkwardly, "If you're done with your little tantrum… I could really use your help." Shira said and held out her hand, Gage snorted and reluctantly shook it, she smiled

"My name is Shira" she said and started getting bowls and spoons ready for the incoming rush of hungry men. She had found an apron and even though it was too big for her she wore it anyway, it wrapped almost entirely around her body and she couldn't even do anything with the chest cover so she let it hang down. The boy smirked; it looked like she was wearing a dress to serve food. He watched her take bowls of soup out to the tables, she seemed different than she had earlier… she seemed like one of the adults the more he watched her. She had turned to go back into the kitchen and their eyes met. He blushed and the small girl smiled, he then grabbed a few bowls of the soup and helped her serve them to his fellow crew members.

After dinner when all the crew had gone back to their posts for the night only the captain, his second hand and Gage remained in the galley. They sat at a table and the two men talked while Gage watched Shira clean dishes, the two men laughed bringing Gage back into focus and the captain called out Shira's name,

"Aren't ya going to come eat?" he asked in a fatherly tone, Shira poked her head around the corner

"I've already eaten Captain" she lied, but she hadn't been hungry, the captain shrugged and went back to his conversation. Gage left his father and wandered into the back room behind the kitchen and found Shira once again cleaning,

"Don't you ever get tired of cleaning?" he asked, leaning against the doorway. Shira jumped and looked over her shoulder,

"No. My mo… Mother… taught me that cleaning is the best way of relieving stress or anger… that way at least something gets done." She shrugged,

"Besides… this is my room now right? I have to keep it clean… that was another rule in my house." She said and went back to moving various things aside, Gage slid down the doorway and sat with his legs outstretched.

"Where is your mother anyways?" he simply asked, Shira froze and felt a lump make its way to the back of her throat.

Visions flooded her head, as well as the sounds and smells; she started shaking and collapsed onto her knees her breaths came in short gasps and she fell forward onto her hands choking back sobs. Gage leapt to his feet and rushed to her side he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back to see her face. Her round green eyes were filled with tears and her face was red, he hugged her close as he called for his dad,

"Captain!" Brand heard someone call out; he looked around and saw that Gage had vanished. He heard the voice again and followed it into the back room, there he saw Gage holding the weeping Shira. His shirt held the wet marks of her tears and he looked confused, he lifted the girl out of his sons arms and laid her head on his shoulder.

He gestured for Chuck to join the others on deck, once the man was gone Gage moved aside for his father to lay the girl down on her dusty bed,

"Sush now, I think you need to tell me what's going on." He said softly, Gage watched from over his father's shoulder as the girl opened her eyes. Her breathing slowed and the sobs turned into an occasional sniffle or a hiccup. She told them everything, about her powers and that the village had thought she was cursed. She spoke of her mother's sacrifice and how she had attempted to burn a few of the village houses down as well as her own. This, the captain had to laugh at,

"To think, I hid a little arsonist on my ship." After Shira had cried everything out and gone to sleep Captain Brand took his son outside her room into the galley,

"We are dealing with a very broken little girl. We aren't going to abandon her, so you might as well get used to her." Gage nodded as his father continued,

"I need you to keep an eye on her." He gave his son a sharp pat on the back and left him to his thoughts. Gage stood in the middle of the galley watching his father leave up the stairs, he returned to Shira's room and lit the lamp that hung above her bunk. He sat in the doorway and let the gentle rocking of the boat lull him to sleep.

He was told to watch her, so that's what he would do. For about a week Gage watched his charge, he helped Shira in the kitchen doing whatever she told him to and told her stories until she fell asleep at night. He found that when he didn't stay for her to fall asleep she would cry out in the night waking him up, his room happened to be right above hers. He thought he had been doing an awesome job then one night after dinner there was a loud clang of a pot being dropped; Gage was the first one on the scene he saw Shira lying next to the makeshift sink.

Had she passed out? Was he not helping her enough? Could he have prevented this? His father moved around him and again Gage watched over his father's shoulder as he tried to understand this girl who had been dropped on their proverbial doorstep.

His father had determined that she hadn't been eating very much, if at all and Gage thought back. He couldn't remember ever seeing her eat in the week she had been there. He vowed to his Captain to keep a better eye on her. After that incident Gage made sure Shira ate her meals with him and his father, even if he had to force her. After a few months she seemed to normal out. She became one of the crew, part of his family, Shira was like his little sister and he treated her as such.

It went on like that for three years, in that time Gage taught Shira everything about the ship. When they went ashore he taught her how to steal clothes and other things without being caught and while they were at sea Shira taught him how to cook. In the summer when Gage turned sixteen and Shira turned fourteen, Brand sent his son ashore to be with his sickly mother and go to school. The day he left Shira did not speak and as he waved goodbye to the departing ship Shira was not there. He felt betrayed and she felt abandoned. For months afterward Shira did nothing but work in her kitchen, the captain was able to eventually get her back to normal. Although she still missed her best friend he would be back soon enough. For two years the two did not speak, when the captain sent letters Shira did not want to be mentioned, she still felt bad about ignoring Gage the day he left. Gage learned that if he asked about Shira that whatever she was doing would be skipped over. So he stopped thinking and asking about her.

In those two years, Shira worked on developing her powers. Mainly her fire magic, but with better control of that came more and more control of what she now knew was seeing the future… Well, not exactly seeing the future. More like "what ifs" she only ever saw patches, what she really considered her power was mind walking. As she slept she could wander in people's mind. Although she never knew who they were, a few times she had been cooking and accidentally slipped into mind walking. It was like daydreaming to her and often enough she would get lost in someone else's mind, only to be rudely awakened by a member of the crew or even booted by the person.

Only the captain knew about her powers, she'd even kept them a secret from Gage who had always thought she was just easily distracted. The time drew near when she would tell Gage about her powers, they day they docked Shira stayed in her room. She was unsure of what to say to her long lost friend… Would he still be mad? Would he even remember her? She shook her head of all negative thoughts and began getting dressed tossing all her negative thoughts away. She tied her red now lower back length hair into a ponytail; shorter strands strayed and fell onto her face. Her eyes had become darker, a truer emerald green, and when she used her powers they turned a bright red. She was still pale, but it wasn't unhealthy and now she had curves. Her hips and buttocks had rounded out; giving her an hourglass shape and her breasts had become perky C cups. She was built like a track runner, but with more muscle in her arms. Her calves were rock hard and so had her abdomen become. Her hands, although soft and feminine had calluses along the edges of her palm, her long thin fingers danced along the fabric of a much worn green crop top. She found it easier to work in shorter clothes, men paid more attention to her when she needed it and it snagged less when she needed to escape various predicaments.

Shira pulled on her short brown ragged skirt; it hit just above her mid-thigh and made her look like a cliché pirate wench. Knee high tan boots and strapped her favorite knife to her outer thigh just under the frayed skirt fabric. A pair of holey fingerless gloves graced her hands and she left her cabin with a mental list of food to stock up on for the upcoming departure. Would he still eat the same foods? She thought, entering the market. It bustled about with various types of people; there was one person in particular that caught her attention, more of an event than an actual singular person.

Shira watched closely in slow motion as a young boy, no more than ten, in tattered clothing, bruises covering various parts of his face and arms stole a piece of fruit from a very large vendor. The owner however caught the boy fairly fast and began to beat him, Shira leapt into the crowd that soon surrounded the fray and a young man pushed passed her as she was about to pull the boy from the grasp of the vendor. He was handsome, she hadn't seen anyone so immediately attractive since… oh god. She watched as Gage pulled the boy up into his arms and set him away from the man on wobbly legs, a fight between men soon erupted.

"Miss" Shira looked up into Gages eyes as he ushered the boy into her arms

"Please watch him for me." He simply said with a wink. She nodded, awestruck. He hadn't recognized her in the least, in the back of her mind emotions wrestled. Surprise, offense, sadness, longing and others were jumbled into the mix. When the older man launched a fist into Gages jaw she squeezed the boys shoulders, he looked up at her and pulled on her shirt she looked down and smiled, as she knelt to his level she heard him mumble something although she wouldn't realize until later what he had said.

"What's your name?" she asked, looking straight into the eyes of the child.

"Olwe." He said quietly, although he tried to act shy Shira could tell this boy had an ulterior motive. She shook her head and pushed the thought to the back of her mind,

"Different. I like it." She smiled again,

"My name is Shira. Do you know that man who saved you?" she asked, maybe it wasn't him. The thought circled in her mind, then vanished as the boy spoke again

"No. He's just a distraction; he'll be out of the way soon enough." Shira opened her mouth to speak but the boy vanished from her grasp. He didn't run away, merely turned into mist in her hands. She began looking around, even though she knew he had vanished something hadn't been right… He didn't have the attitude of a child, what he said… how he said it sounded if it'd come from the mouth of an adult.

Shira made her way through the crowd away from the fight and when she finally turned her head to see who was winning she bumped into a girl in a very frivolous dress. Although at first the breath caught in her chest and she reached out to touch the girl,

"You look just like me…" Shira said, recoiling her hand as if she'd been burned. The girl merely stared at her in partial disgust,

"I'm perfectly sure I don't know what you're talking about." The other girl said and flipped her hair over her shoulder, with that she waltzed away and left Shira dumbfounded. She stood in the same spot, staring after the girl as the crowd began to disperse. She snapped back into reality when someone roughly grabbed her shoulder, she blinked and found herself staring into his eyes again,

"Miss?" he asked, seemingly worried. Shira could feel herself being pulled into those sky blue eyes,

"Yes?" she replied, in a daze.

"Did you see where that boy ran off to?" he asked, suddenly taking his hand from her arm. Shira looked down at her hands,

"He just vanished… I tried looking for him." She paused, "I'm sorry."

Gage chuckled, Shira noticed that his voice had become much deeper and now his laugh filled her with the same warmth his fathers did. Gage began speaking in a hushed tone but Shira had gotten lost in his blue eyes, it wasn't until he began walking away that she found herself asking,

"Will I see you again?" for a moment Shira wasn't looking at the man Gage had become, she was looking at and speaking to the boy she once knew. As he turned around she saw him flash a smile she hadn't seen since they were younger,

"Probably not miss, I'm due to leave port and be married when I get back." With that he flicked his hand in a goodbye gesture, Shira's shoulders visibly dropped;

"Married?" she whispered, "Maybe it wasn't him…" her thoughts traveled away and she slowly made her way back to the ship.


	2. Chapter 2

Back on the ship Shira had locked herself in the kitchen; her hair was messily pulled into a bun and stray pieces hung about her tear streaked face. Why was she so upset? Did she expect him to wait? To not be angry? It was her fault; she never wrote him and asked the captain to never mention her.

"Maybe he just forgot about me…" she sniffled while peeling potatoes. Of course she knew deep down that this wasn't the case, he had made a life for himself ashore and that life had nothing to do with hers. Then, as if something had slapped her across the face she stood up, cleaned herself off the best she could and darted from the kitchen, up the stairs. A quick glance around made up her mind, no one was on board and no one would be able to follow her.

Shira ran, up the newly reconstructed docks and straight through the forest surrounding the town only a little ways away from her home village. When she cleared the underbrush she stood, awestruck. There was nothing, the streets were barren; the houses had been slowly falling apart, but since when? When had the village become deserted?

"What happened here?" she asked aloud to no one in particular, her eyes burned from crying and the air that had rushed against them whilst she had been running. Shira took a deep breath and began walking down the still familiar roads, there had been no water here in a long time, and her light steps kicked up dust and dirt along the cracked earth. As Shira continued along the long abandoned houses and shops she suddenly noticed something… someone familiar out of the corner of her eye.

A few feet from where she stood in her tracks she began seeing a vision, it wasn't her normal mind wandering. As she looked around, her village sprang to life, snow covered the ground although where Shira stood, it was summer. People bustled about much like the towns below only these were people she once knew. Everything was like a transparent sheet over her reality, she could still see the caved in roofs the missing or unhinged doors, the broken windows. It was like she was walking though a town of ghosts, only she was privy to this vision. Did this make her a memory walker? Or was she simply lost in her own mind now?

Everything around her seemed to speed up and darken, like the night had fallen on her ghosts. She could only see the bright flames of torches heading down another strangely familiar alley, wait… she knew what was happening, all too well. She hurried into a sprint, running through the villagers with their torches. She passed the square; a pyre built to burn away the curse this village had thrust upon it, she could smell the fire, feel the heat of their torches, the stench of fear hanging in the air as thick as the smoke. She arrived to the ghostly image of her house although she was unable to go in, she briefly looked through the image to see the burned remains of her childhood home.

Shira snapped back into the vision as a frightened young girl and her mother were ripped from their beds, she remembered how cold the snow was on her bare feet and winced as a chill ran up her spine. She walked quickly beside herself and looked back at her mother, what an odd sight. Her mother was calm, as if being led on a morning walk though the flowers. Although, deep behind that mask Shira could tell her mother was contemplating something. Shira looked back to her young self, eyes wide with terror and uncertainty.

When they reached the square she watched with herself the pyre being lit, knowing exactly what was coming. Everything sped up again and Shira, in her here and now could only watch, again, her mother being burned. Everything slowed down as Shira had not noticed before, watched her mothers face. It was not twisted in agony as her nightmares had always led her to remember; it was not contorted in hate, her mother never pointed at her with blame. She watched as slowly her mother mouthed the words, 'I love you.' Shira's resolve broke; she crumpled to her knees as she watched her mother burn for the second time. She didn't even watch herself be led away nor listen to any of the town's folk as they guiltily monitored the fire. Making sure every last piece of flesh burned away into ash. She was awoken from her stupor when her mother's fire had been put out and she heard screams from her houses direction,

"That's it little me," she began, as she rose to her feet and walked back towards her house "Burn it all to the ground. Make sure they never forget you were here." Her voice dripped with acid, her eyes burned with the bright blood red they had turned since using her powers.

She stood again in front of her burning house and watched her younger self retreat into the shadows, then hearing a noise her head snapped in the direction of a young boy's voice, even after five years she knew his voice.

"Rhys!" the name leapt from her mouth with more surprise than she meant. That night so long ago, she'd forgotten about her only friend. Rhyszard, or Rhys to Shira, was the only person besides her mother who accepted her powers. They were not unlike each other; Rhys could manipulate the shadows, although no one knew about his powers. His parents, the village elders, not even his twin sister knew, he was able to let them out in front of Shira although sometimes hard to control. They shared a friendship through their curses. How could I have forgotten him? A childhood pact stood out in her memories, they had promised to run away together. But she left him. Shira watched as her young friend stood in front of her house with his twin sister, Kris; all three watched the house burn.

Everything sped up again; she watched something in Rhys snap; something under the surface. One of the elders returned with a dog and tried to usher Rhys and Kris into their house, that's when the break became visible. His eyes turned gold and darkness lashed out of him, the village was plunged into darkness. The vision faded away, leaving nothing behind.

"Rhys! Kris!" Shira shouted and reached for where they had last stood. What had happened to them? Did they make it out of the village? Shira crumpled to her knees again. What had she done? Was she the cause of the village's destruction? If she had remembered her promise to Rhys this wouldn't have happened. Scenarios played around in her head and soon it became too much, Shira pitched forward into the dirt on her forearms. After being hunched over for what felt like hours something rustled in the bushes. Shira looked up, the sun was setting and someone was approaching her.

No, not someone, some-thing, as her eyes focused on the first shadow, more began coming out of the woodwork. Their eyes glowed like fire and they moved… like humans? Their shapes were exactly like a human, but a shadow of indiscernible gender with eyes like the heartless she'd encountered so many times upon the ship. They seemed to reach out to her and she heard a rising murmur among them, were they saying her name? Shira got up on wobbly legs and began backing away; everything from her waist down had been overcome with a fuzzy feeling, like it'd been asleep. She stumbled a few times before regaining most of her agility; everything was blurry; like looking through glass in the winter when a single breath can hide everything on the other side. The shadows drew nearer, with every step back Shira took it seemed like the dark mob took five forward. The girl panicked as one threw itself at her feet and began falling backwards, right before the shadows could reach her she fell through the earth; everything went black, but before she could begin to struggle she felt arms around her. Comforting and familiar, she immediately clung to whoever was holding her and tightly closed her eyes.

When Shira opened her eyes, a bright light stung them and she fell backwards in her chair, hitting her head on the floor. As she scrambled onto her feet and backed against the door to the kitchen, it opened earning her another swift rescue from hitting the ground. She opened her eyes, which she had closed again to endure the impact of the floorboards that never came. Blue was all she saw. She didn't hear Captain Brand talking to her, or the mystery man asking if she was ok. She snapped to when the captain said something about her being locked on a ship for too long and laughed. Shira shook her head and struggled out of the mans arms,

"Maybe I should stop leavin' ya here alone girly, I think ye've gone on one too many excursions ta Tortuga." The captain made a drinking gesture to the other man by holding up his heavily calloused pinky and thumb and tilting his hand and head. The other man just smiled and gave a brief laugh, Shira rolled her eyes; now making a point of not looking at the other man.

"Maybe you're right captain, a ship is no place for a girl. I could leave, you could hire another cook. I really should be finding myself a husband anyhow." She looked briefly at the other man before continuing,

"Maybe that Captain Jack fellow we met a while back is looking for a new young harlot." She smiled, the captain, however didn't find it very funny.

"He's a heartbreaker. You'd make a lovely pair." The captain gave her a light punch on the arm before giving a hearty laugh,

"Oh, Lordy. How the times have changed, eh Gage?" the captain looked at his son and they both laughed in unison. Shira was speechless; Captain Brand saw the look on her face, she was biting her lower lip and her face was scrunched up into a look of pain

"Well, guess it's time fer me to… Well, I've got other things to do. Gage. You remember your charge." Gage nodded at his father and the captain gave Shira another punch in the shoulder, probably signaling her to compose herself. Forgetting almost completely about her previous ordeal… dream… Earlier happenings, Shira reached up to touch Gage's face. He was at least six two by her reckonings and as she had seen earlier he had completely filled out with muscle, although he hid it well. He was wearing clothes not of a pirate's son, as he once did but of a gentleman. A clean white shirt hung from his broad shoulders and buttoned just below his now well defined chest, a gaudy orange vest framed it and so much like an underline telling her what she could not have in writing was his red sash, he wore black pants tucked neatly into black boots with another piece of red fabric tied around the left ankle. His once shaggy brown hair had been grown out and after today's scuffle had been retied into a ponytail that hung between his shoulder blades. Before her fingers could brush his jaw, Gage's hand found hers and put down to her side. She was hurt, still and wanted to lock herself in the kitchen again, but she stood firm. It had been him, he was getting married; and she had no part in his future. As she still gazed into his eyes Shira noticed that there was a, certain coldness to them. Why wouldn't there be? She abandoned him, just like Rhys. A smirk twinged at the corner of her mouth, this was turning into a reoccurring action in her short fifteen years.

"So, are we ever going to get over this?" she asked with a hitch in her voice,

"I hope so. We're going to be seeing a lot of each other in the next year." He said, and smiled. Shira looked incredulously at her old friend, a moment later they were laughing. Shira let her thoughts wander,

"Maybe…" she thought, "This could work out after all, I wanted my best friend back. It's not like I ever planned on marrying him."

A small uneasy feeling crept up her spine, almost as if it were foreshadowing a tragedy. All through the night Gage stayed near her, they talked; never about the awkward things that had happened between them, but stories of their lives. Shira could tell that Gage skirted around the subject of other women, but didn't mind it all that much. The next day, when the ship was all packed; they set sail. Shira and Gage stood side by side and watched the docks, just then Shira spied a familiar fluffy thing near the edge of the docks. It was the girl from the day before, the dress she wore even flounced more as she waved and blew kisses to Gage. Who had since forgotten that Shira was standing next to him until she laughed, his eyes widened and a worried look flashed across his face as he stared at his small companion. Shira merely waved his confused looks off and said,

"She certainly is…. Fluffy." She looked her friend up and down, his chiseled jaw with the five o' clock shadow, his dark skin and his roughly calloused hands,

"You'll make the perfect couple." There was an edge of bitterness that she hoped he hadn't caught, but before he could say anything she patted him on the shoulder and made her way back to her kitchen.

For the next three months Shira hadn't seen much of her old friend, he stayed with his father in the captain's cabin and rarely left even that. Except to eat when she and his father made him. Shira had eavesdropped a few times but only heard snippets of conversation, bit and pieces of "Treasure Hunting", "Before Marrying", "Mother", when the voices started yelling, that's when she decided to just stay out of it. She wasn't much for conflict, never had been; if she ever needed to defend herself either Rhys or

Gage had been there. These past two years Shira had learned to fight her own battles, she never started the fights, but she could sure as hell finish them. She sank down and leaned back beside the door and listened to the raised voices, now neither of them discernable from the other. Her knees curled up and she rested her head on them while her arms hugged them ever closer. Later when a crewmate found her he took her to her room, this repeated itself for another three months; until one night.

Shira didn't know how or when she'd gotten into bed, she awoke with a start and bumped her head on the bunk above hers where she kept her belongings. Sleepy emerald orbs searched her familiar surroundings and all at once she rose into a panic, she smelled fire; things, people burning. She could hear the screams and she grabbed for her cutlass. She swore, and pulled herself out of the half dream state she seemed to be in. She saw her room but while she slept she'd been in someone's mind, their room draped over hers like a veil and she grappled with making the vision vanish. This wasn't the time to be distracted; Shira snapped her fingers and a flame danced along the tip of her thumb; ripping the vision away like a knife through paper. But what she saw wasn't what she expected, the vision was her room; the place she stood now looked almost like hers. It had the same bunk, but the room was bigger than hers; more ornate. Carvings of vines ran along the red wood of the room, she looked around frantically for a door; she let the flame flutter and die on her thumb and began feeling around the walls. She brushed across a pile of what felt like petticoats but found the door right next to the pile.

Frantically Shira pulled the door open; her face was met with hot air and flames licked at her now bare skin. She noticed people fighting everywhere across the expanse of the deck, she looked off the port side of the ship and saw her home floating safely. But where was the captain? How did she get here? Shira racked her brain trying to remember how she had gotten aboard this ship; another flame licked her bare leg and she decided she'd had enough. She closed her eyes and faced her palms towards the flames; she imagined each one of them down to their source; flickering, ever so slightly then dying away. When she opened her eyes no one was fighting anymore, they all turned to her direction; her crewmates especially had never seen any of her powers. She fell slightly to the side but caught herself; using that much of her powers at once had drained her. She heard a loud cracking and looked above where a mast had burned through and was falling at her; she tried to move but her legs were glued to that spot and it was all she could do not to collapse.

As she closed her eyes someone grabbed her around the waist and tackled her out of the way last minute, they tumbled and slid across the deck as Shira heard the fighting pick up again. She opened her eyes again when they slid to a stop, she could feel several slivers making their home in her hands, legs and shoulders. She looked over when she heard a loud thud and realized Gage had been the one to save her, his eyes were closed now and she soon knew why, a very large man wearing nothing but a pair of ragged britches stood over them with what looked like a piece of wood decking. He slung it over his shoulder like a club and reached for Shira, the girl tried to move away but he snatched what was left of her shirt and dragged her up alongside him.

Everything else went black after that and we can only assume everything was destroyed, Shira was found three days later floating on a large raft made out of broken pieces of wood and strapped together with cloth of various types. Shira would never speak of this again in all her travels. After another month of ship hopping she made her way to Traverse Town, finding a job in the first district at the café' next to the item shop and there she waits for the next absolution, the next leg of her journey.


End file.
